Stones and Demigods
by Verstrahlt
Summary: Follows the story of a new camper who arrives just before 'The Lost Hero'. I'm awful at writing summaries. CANON, OCxOC. I hate saying it, but the story is better than the summary makes it out to be. Read and Review please.
1. A new face

Canaries, Toffees and Superstars

A/N

I'm thrilled to be back writing- even if it's only fan fiction. I've taken a huge absence from writing anything special. (By special I mean not school related) I decided to write Percy Jackson fanfiction because during my trip to Spain and England, I really fell in love with the series. Just a heads-up, I'm not including the story of how my protagonist, Aaron, arrives in Camp Half-Blood. It's totally not that I'm too lazy to write a good original arrival! But I do really want to just jump into the proper story, so, sorry! is An edit! :0 But don't act suprised. I've just been playing a bit of Medieval 2 Total War, and I've found something in the game I really like. I've decided I'm going to write a proverb in each chapter! :D Of coruse, I'll save my favorite one for the next chapter... hehe, but here we go!

**A nation without a language is a nation without a heart**

Disclaimer- I don't own anything that is Rick Riordans. Thank you.

There was a pounding in my ears. Everywhere hurt. It was all I could do to force open my eyes. I took short, shaky breaths until I could raise my head. I heard a laugh.

I look over toward the sound and saw a guy, maybe 16, with black hair and green eyes. He grinned at me and said, "that was some entrance." I tried to say something but somehow I was too weak.

What in the world could've happened to me? The guy's smile was gone now, "Here," he said, "drink this." He picked up a glass with what looked like apple juice in it. He moved it toward my mouth and helped me drink. Turns out it wasn't apple juice, but a taste I couldn't quite place- delicious, yeah, and maddeningly familiar, but I couldn't place it. It surged me with strength, but before I could ask the guy what this wonder drink was, I passed out.

I woke up a few times before I came round for good. Once it was the dark haired guy, another time a blonde haired girl, and once, at the time I was sure I was still dreaming, but once it was a guy with eyes all over his body.

When I did come round for good, I could actually lift my head without straining with effort. I raised my arms, it felt strange after me being out for so long, and ran my hands through my hair. Frizzy, and unclean. Not dirty, but defiantly not clean either. I pushed back the covers and stood up.

I wobbled over to the window, and looked outside. I couldn't see much of where I was, but judging from the sun I figured it must be about 11 or 12. I shook my head, wondering where I was.

I turned around to have a look at where I spent the last, I don't know how long. The room was beautiful. I mean, it was totally my style. Kinda like an old country hotel. It's hard to describe, but I loved it.

Then the door creaked open. The blonde haired girl who I'd seen before was standing in the doorway, quite surprised. My jaw dropped. She looked a bit older than me, and she had beautiful grey eyes. She was drop dead.

She raised an eyebrow and said, "You're up." She was staring at me, but it's not like she was... interested in me, it was more like I was an interesting specimen in a scientific research project. "I'll be right back." And with that, she left, leaving a glass of behind.

I sat down on a chair next to the bed- sure it was comfortable, but I had just spent ages in it, plus I might've fallen asleep again, and after seeing that girl, I did NOT want to miss whatever she was coming back with- and waited. The girl came back a few minutes later with the dark-haired chill-looking guy. He grinned at me again. "Who, who are you guys?" I managed to say.

"I'm Percy, Percy Jackson," Said the dark-haired guy. "This is Annabeth. You look older than 13," He turned to Annabeth, "This guy should've been brought here and claimed lo-ong ago. What do you think?" Annabeth pursed her lips.

"Well, before anything else he should get a tour. After all, this IS his new home." This got my attention, after all, it's not every day you here someone talking about you like you're a pet.

"What are you guys talking about?" They exchanged glances. I don't like it when people do that. Like the time the coach and a Chelsea rep were discussing my contract - I'd better not get into it.

"Well, it's the only safe place in the entire world for kids like us." Percy offered.

"What d'you mean by that?" At this, Percy grinned.

"I remember when I first came here. You remind me of, well, me. Trust me, you belong here. Now, I don't wanna be rude, but- wait a sec, I don't even know your name." He raised his eyebrows at me.

"I'm Aaron, Aaron Stone. I'm from Rochester, New York." When I said New York Percy's eyes lit up.

"Hey, I'm from New York too! But the actual city, hehe. Y'know, Annabeth, I think I'll show this guy around." She tried to protest, and hey, she was hot. I kinda wanted to get to know her, but then something ruined it.

"See you at the campfire Percy," she said, before kissing him on the cheek. Well, that sucks. As she left the room, Percy turned his attention back towards me.

"So," He said, "let's check out your new home." We walked out of the house, which incidentally was called 'the Big House', and my jaw dropped. The valley this camp was in was a-maze-ing. There was an enormous forest that looked like it had escaped the Pioneers, a beautiful lake or ocean inlet, and a commons area the size of a couple of soccer fields. "So," Percy said, "Uh, do you like sports?" Oh man, he asked the question.

"I love sports. Well, I really love soccer. I'm not a big fan of any American or Canadian sports..." Percy looked tiny bit crestfallen. I guess he only asked because I look a bit like an athletic kid. "What about you Percy?"

"Well, I don't like soccer much, but I play a lot of basketball." He paused, "Problem is, we don't have a proper track here, so the only sports we can play are basketball, volleyball and tetherball." I was quite surprised. I mean, sure soccer hasn't really caught on quite yet in North America, but no football fields? No hockey rinks? They must get a few kids from Canada here. "Back when you said this would be my new home, what exactly do you mean?" He sighed. I got the feeling he was going to give me some bad news. "Ok, Aaron, do you know the Greek myths?" I blinked. Was he kidding?

"Are you talking about, like, pagan stuff?" At this, Percy smiled wistfully. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing... it's just I remember when I sounded like that. Good times..." He sounded really nostalgic, and suddenly, for some reason, I felt nostalgic too. He continued, "see, the Olympian gods are still here. Have you ever heard of Western Civilization?"

"You mean like pop culture and the opposite of the Russians? Because that's all I know about Western Civilization."

"Well, yeah. You see, Western Civilization has been around since the time of the Ancient Greeks. Although, the special thing is, they move around with the strongest force OF the flame of Western Civilization. Is this making sense?" I shrugged,

"More or less. So I'm going to guess that you'll move on to talk about how the Olympian gods still exist and mount Olympus is now on top of some big mountain in the Rockies." Percy laughed.

"Well, you're right and wrong. It's true that the gods still exist, but Mount Olympus isn't on a mountain." He was kidding, right? I mean, sure, I had no idea why I was here, or how I even GOT here, but he HAD to be joking around.

"So... where is Mount Olympus?" Percy looked at me like I was some kind of funny. "Well, if it isn't on a mountain then it's not 'Mount' Olympus!"

"I never really looked at it that way, but I would've thought the location of Mount Olympus would be obvious."

"Ok, you're obviously not kidding. But are you building up to something? Like, so what if the Greek gods are still alive?"

"Well, considering you're attitude I don't think you're gonna believe me, but it turns out that, well, what was the most common thing the Greek gods did in the myths?"

"Ran around having lots and lots of chil- no, no way. " Percy raised his eyebrows. "No. Fucking. Way." I looked at him with a mixture of apprehension and confusion. If he was telling the truth, than I was a... demigod. "Are... are you for real?"

"I don't joke about stuff like this. It's true, I'm a demigod, you're a demigod, and everyone else here apart from the nature spirits and Chiron is a demigod."

"No, but, oh my god! This explains everything! That was why, but, how did you know I was a demigod? And how can you be sure now?" Percy laughed.

"Well, you remember that stuff we were feeding you, that was ambrosia and nectar, only gods and demigods can ingest it, and for us it's dangerous if we eat or drink too much of it. And, hey, everyone here has bad memories. Let me guess, monster attacks?"

"When I was skiing up in Ellicottville, I KNEW that blue giant was real. They told me it was my ADHD again."

"Look," Percy said, "don't worry about ADHD or anything. ADHD and dyslexia are usual traits for demigods. And the monster attacks? We've all had them. I'm also guessing you were kicked out of a lot of schools?"

"No, not really. I, uh, well I actually go to a school in England. Remember when I was talking about soccer?" Percy looked a bit puzzled, it felt good to see someone else puzzled for a change.

"But, if you were in England, how did your searcher find you?"

"Well, see, for Christmas I was given a 2 month break."

"Ok, what sort of school were you at? What school gives out breaks? I WISH my high school was like that." Percy grinned again.

"Well, it's an academy. I am, or I suppose WAS training to become a professional soccer player. I had my contracts sorted out. I was going to play for Chelsea." Percy looked a bit awestruck, which was pretty flattering, but it also worried me a little bit. "Percy, if this is my new home, does that mean I can't go back and fufill my dream in England?"

"To be honest, Aaron, I don't know. If you're a son of a smaller goddess, than bigger monsters will probably ignore you. If your mom's Athena or more powerful goddess than you're probably gonna be stuck here." I tried not to show it, but I was pretty damn upset. Playing soccer was my dream. If being a demigod got in the way of that then I'd, I'd... well I don't know what I'd do, other than get angry. "Look, Aaron, we'll talk to Chiron. I'm sure that we'll work something out. Now, put that aside. You've learnt who you are, let's go check out your new home."

This place, I learnt the name was Camp Half Blood, was pretty cool. The cabins were a bit eccentric, but I guess being demigods you got to decorate your cabin differently from normal kids.

The dining pavilion was a bit weird, being open air and all, but I decided not to ask any questions. Sword and spear fights? Not AS good as soccer matches, but they sounded pretty cool. And the forge looked cool, although I unfortunately I was no good at making things.

I asked Percy where we were, and he said Long Island. Now, I know that Long Island isn't as warm as the Turks and Caicos in the winter, and he said that the camp has magical boarders, so even in winter it was warm and sunny.

That was pretty awesome. Looking back on it, we became friends pretty fast.

Maybe Percy was just a cool guy, or maybe we just had a lot in common. It was pretty awesome. Then I asked him about Annabeth. Turns out they were dating, and had been for the past few months.

That was weird until I found out that gods have no DNA, so it was OK to date your, uh, technical, cousins. The tour did come to an end, which sucked, but then again there was so much to see, to take in. The only thing that would've made this place perfect would be a soccer field. And if I knew who my godly parent was. I could talk to Chiron about getting a soccer field put in, but not about the latter. "So, Percy, who's my...?" Percy tried for a smile but it didn't really work.

"Hopefully we'll find out at the campfire tonight. But at least this explains why you weren't claimed at 13. You were in England then, right?"

"Yeah, I went to England when I was 11, to play for Liverpool's academy." I already missed England. I loved it there, all the people were so nice. Sure, I had no friends with me, but my foster family were so nice it was almost as if they had become my real family. I missed them quite a lot. Percy must've seen a bit of homesickness on my face. "Hey, don't worry. We'll become your new family. And, maybe tomorrow I can show you how to send Iris messages. I'd show you now but I have to teach Pegasus riding lessons. If I were you, I'd head over to the big house. Chiron'll probably be there. You can talk to him until dinner. If you want you can sit with me or Hermes cabin. They're still used to taking in new campers. I'll see you later." Percy left me standing amongst the cabins. I shrugged, and walked off toward the big house.

I went to the big house, walking through all the Greek cabins. They were all so different... I wondered which I would belong to.

The Golden one was way too bright, and the ugly one with the barbed wire looked a little too unfriendly. I was lost in thought before I realised I had actually gotten lost.

Now, that probably sounds kinda funny. After all, the big house was like the focal point of the entire valley, but I had wandered into the forest.

It was pretty cool. You never see huge forests in England, most of it is just farmland and the boundaries between farmland. Huge gnarled roots, trees like, 100 feet tall.

I remembered what Percy said, though, about there being nasties in the woods. I pondered the choice I had. Go back the way I came, or... what? I realised I didn't want to talk to anybody.

I just wanted to be alone, so I sat against a tree and... waited. I didn't know what for though. A sign or something. It was nice to be alone, to think about the situation I was in. It was all a bit overwhelming.

To take in the facts that I was the son of an immortal god or goddess, and the fact that I might not be able to go and play soccer. It was my dream, my passion... I must've drifted off, because the next thing I knew a horn was blowing. I knew it was a conch horn, even though I had never heard one before. I got up, feeling much better than I had back in the big house. Who knew that sleeping against a tree would do that?

Dinner was a pretty interesting affair. I arrived a little later than most of the campers, and I guess that not many of them had heard of me because they didn't know who I was, some of them even drew swords.

Go figure. Percy called me over to his table -for some reason he was sitting alone- "Hey Percy." I sat down across from him. Someone walked over and put a plate of food down next to me. I looked up and was about to say thank you when I realised she wasn't a human. I started back, and she laughed and moved away. I looked back at Percy and he grinned. "What was that?" I asked.

"That was a tree nymph. Be nice to them. If you're not careful they'll fill your bedsheets with mud and creepy crawlies. " I thought he was joking but he looked at me like he was serious. Ok, they have living trees.

"What else to you guys have? I mean, living trees and," I gestured toward Chiron, "horse people?"

"Well, we have a hellhound the size of a tank, satyrs, and naiads. There are also the monsters in the forest I told you about but they aren't very friendly." He laughed and said, "you'll get used to it, I remember when I first came here. Oh man, that was a weird summer."

Dinner went on in that sort of fashion. It was sort of cool eating outside, even if I was a little worried about rain.

Finally the big horse guy, I had learned at this point that he was a centaur, stood up and banged his hoof against the stone floor. He made a few announcements that made no sense to me.

Capture the flag was canceled because of the problem in the woods, Hephaestus cabin got a load of dity looks, and the bi-monthly chariot races will be next month.

This summer camp sounded pretty fun. I mean, I'm a huge fan of sports. I love 'em, and running a capture the flag every week and chariot racing every few months? Awesome. The only problem was I didn't get along with many animals. After a few more announcements, campers got up and moved off. Some went to bed, others, including me and Percy, went to the campfire.

Another A/N  
>Sorry about the writing style. I'm trying to mimic Riordan's writing style, although it's quite difficult. I'm sorry about the writing, I haven't written anything properly fictional that isn't schoolwork in a long time.<br>I need some help with my protagonist, Aaron. Who should his parent be? I'm inclining toward Hecate or Hades. What do you think?

**BOOM- Mass edit. The story was shit because FF Doc Manager or whatever messed my sentences up. D: Keep reading guys, I've edited all three chapters, and soon there's gonna be a fourth. I promise. **

**And now I've just broken all the paragraphs up. Except for one. Hehe. Enjoy guys.**


	2. A major problem

A/N- Hey guys. Me agian. Hopefully I'll get more than one review. Haha :) So, this chapter isn't as long. Sorry. :( But I'll try to update once more between now and school. Wednesday next week... I'm not looking forward to it. Have a good one guys. Enjoy it. RxR please.

The Welsh Proverb time! (yay) Just a heads up, I love proverbs. They mean so much to me, and not just to me, but the words behind them. I think they're incredible. Here we go, the Proverb of the Chapter!

**A lame cat is better than a swift horse when rats infest the palace**

Wasn't that amazing? The only problem is, I haven't quite figured out what this one means... If you'd like to tell me, just drop me a PM or, hey, every review helps. _Spurs _me on if you will. Hehe.

The campfire wasn't what I was expecting. I was thinking more along the lines of a simple log fire. What I saw was an enormous bonfire.

It was cool- don't get me wrong- but really unexpected, because it wasn't the right colour. It was gold. Plus it was about 15 feet high. It was awesome, everyone singing these corny songs, which would've looked way too retarded to do in the light of day, but at night, hey, it was fun.

I think the best thing about campfires is the camaraderie. You're not alone when you're at a campfire, even if you don't know anybody. It was after a few songs and a few marshmallows when it happened. We were right in the middle of a song about a grandmother on the Godly side, when a bright silver light ruined the campfire light. I looked up and saw a snake, or I guess you could call it a serpent, hovering over my head.

Now I knew what 'claiming' was like. I looked at Percy, but he was looking up in awe. Then Chiron spoke in barely more than a whisper; "It has been a long time since a child of magic has been born." Then he spoke in a louder, stronger voice, "Hail, Aaron Stone. Son of Sorcery and Crossroads. Hail, son of the Mistress of Magic, Hecate.

The campfire pretty much ended there. I was whisked off to what looked like a newly built cabin. The bricks it was made of looked like mud, but a few had a strange glowing purple symbol on them.

The inside of the cabin, though, was amazing. In one half, bunks. The other half, the entry half, looked like a cozy ski chalet.

There was a fireplace, with a glass coffee table a few feet from it. 3 comfy looking leather sofas surrounded the glass table, and on the wall there were shelves and shelves of books. The only thing that stopped the bookshelves were windows and the bunks. The only thing that bugged me about the cabin was the painting of, I guess, my mom above the fireplace. It's eyes almost followed me, it was creepy.

You're probably thinking that the cabin was pretty hot, I mean, with the fire and all, but actually I realised that the cabin without the fire would be about 20 degrees colder. At the end facing the fire, it was pretty damn cold. In fact, when I tried to go to sleep, it was too cold. England was never cold. Sure, it was damp, and cloudy, but it never got really cold. In fact, the only way I could even get to sleep was by moving to a leather sofa and crashing there. The sofa was actually more comfortable than the bunk. Go figure.

The next morning dawned bright and early. I was woken by the conch horn again. I got dressed and head out of the cabin, but then I realised something was wrong. There was a small gathering around Cabin 3. I frowned and jogged over. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked. A kid with blond hair- I remembered him from the campfire, Will Solace I think- glared at me, then sighed. "We don't know Aaron, you know who's cabin this is?"

Suddenly I remembered that Percy's cabin was number 3. "What's wrong?" I asked, fearful for losing my new- and only- friend.

"Percy... Percy's gone missing!" He said. I could see that the whole camp was in uproar.

The short time I had been here, I realised that Percy was like this places leader. I realised I was getting a few dirty looks. I did worry about that, though I understood their suspicion. I had only been here a week, and then I had been claimed by Hecate, the Goddess of Sorcery and stuff.

I guess they thought I had something to do with Percy going. I had only been awake for a day. I was the only variable that had changed in the camp's day-to-day lifestyle.

Annabeth came busting out of the cabin and drew her knife at me. "Where. Is. He." She said, her voice steely calm. She was gripping her knife so hard her knuckles were white. I looked around for backup. There was none.

I held up my hands. "I don't- I didn't... I don't know! Why do you think **I **took him?" Annabeth glared at me. Well, goodbye. She stepped forward, I had a few seconds left at best, but than her expression changed. It changed from anger and distrust to pain. Deep pain. "Did I... Did I miss breakfast?" I asked weakly. I only just realised that it couldn't be morning. It was too bright, and the sun was too high up. Someone in the back said rather helpfully,

"Percy's missing and we've looked everywhere. The forest, the canoe lake, even Rachel's cave." At this, I had to crack a smile.

"Someone lives in a cave? Who's cabin is that?" That got me a bit better reception. I mean, I was the new guy. I had no idea what this place was like. How could **I** kidnap someone? Annabeth dropped her knife.

"Aaron, I'm sorry."

"No, it's ok. After all, I'm the only change in this camp, right? It sorta makes sense if you suspect me." Annabeth looked at me like I got it. Hey, I could tell she was pretty smart. "Is that why you suspected me?" I asked. Annabeth looked deflated.

"Yeah. I mean, you were the only change! What else could've happened? Percy... what the hell did you do this time?" She said, more to herself than to me. I was pretty worried, Percy being my only friend here, but Annabeth looked a WHOLE lot more worried than me. She was almost frantic. Chiron chose this moment to arrive. "Annabeth," He said, "What's wrong my dear?"

He took one look at her, and then turned to the rest of us. "All of you, back to your activities." He pointed to me, "Except you." Then he slung both of us onto his back like it was the easiest thing in the world and galloped off toward the big house.

"After we searched the forest we got really worried. What happened Chiron, where were you?"

"My dear, I was busy. Sending Iris messages, receiving them, working on our exports." He sighed. "Do not worry, child. We will send search parties. We will find him."

"You say that Chiron! And why did you bring him?" She said, gesturing to me. That was a little cold.

"Annabeth," He chided, 'be... civil. I brought him, brought you because I need to talk to you. I was expecting a child of sorcery, although usually..." he trailed off. This made me a bit nervous.

"What, Chiron. They're usually what?" I asked him. He smiled at my reaction.

"No, no young one. I didn't mean... no, usually they're girls. All the most famous children of magic are female. Circe," Annabeth shuddered at that, "Medea, and, after all, Hecate is also known in some places as the Goddess of women."

He shrugged like it didn't matter, but maybe my long hair and slight build were trying to tell me something. I didn't like the fact that my mom was the goddess of all women... and I was a guy. "Look, Chiron, where are we supposed to look? Olympus is closed, the gods are silent, we'd have to comb through the entire of America just to have a chance!"

She looked so defeated, she looked like she needed a hug and someone to tell her 'it's gonna be ok'. If I hadn't been such a wimp I might've considered trying to comfort her. As it was I just asked, "If the gods are silent, why did one of them claim me?"

"Well, ok, sure, the gods aren't _totally _silent. They still claim their kids." Annabeth said. This confused me a bit. There were a **lot **of kids here. How could the gods keep track of all of them. I asked that question, and a small smile played on Annabeth's face. "That was one of the demands we, Percy made last summer." I didn't know the gods took attitude from people.

"What do you mean by that? I didn't figure that the gods would take shit from people." Annabeth almost giggled. Chiron came in,

"No, Aaron, you see... in Greek mythology, who were the, eh, main bad guys?"

"You mean other than all the nasty things like the furies and harpies? It was the Titans, wasn't it? That king Titan, Kronos or whatever." I said.

"Exactly, last year, the Titans attacked Olympus." I tried to interrupt, but Chiron held up his hand. "Let me finish, child. Percy Jackson led a small army of demigods to defend Olympus."

"Wait a sec, where we all the gods? Olympus is their home, right? They should've been defending it!"

"Well, Zeus decided that Typhon was a bigger threat. Typhon is the father of all monsters, and was one of the biggest threats to Olympus. He was trapped under Mount St. Helens, but he managed to escape at around the same time as the Titan army was at its strongest." I took this all in slowly. There was a war, and I hadn't heard anything about it? Sure, the BBC was more focusing on the riots and terrorist attacks in Madrid, Paris, Copenhagen and London, but c'mon!

"If this Titan War was so huge, why didn't the BBC or Sky News or even Al Jazeera cover it?" I asked. Suddenly, Annabeth slammed her fist against the table, making me jump.

"You guys are sitting here talking about old news while Percy's lost! You're wasting time! Chiron!" She cried. I did feel a bit guilty. This wasn't the point of our being here. I spoke first,

"Annabeth, I'm sorry. You're right." This time I did touch her arm briefly. "Chiron, she's right. Tell me this stuff later. Right now we need a plan." Chiron sat back and stroked his beard. He gazed into the fireplace. His eyes were really old. I was wondering if he was actually _the _Chiron. The one from the myths. There were so many questions, but now wasn't the time. There was silence apart from the fire crackling. Chiron broke the silence.

"Annabeth, I give you full permission to search for Percy. Use whatever means of transport you want. But I would advise using Iris messages to contact people he might be near." Annabeth looked gratefully at Chiron.

"Thank you, Chiron." She got up. "You know now that I won't give up." Chiron gave a half smile.

"My dear, please look after yourself." Annabeth hugged Chiron and said goodbye to me. I figured I wouldn't see her until she was ready to drop. That may seem weird, after all, I barely know her. But I have a weird knowledge of people. I can get to know them, without ever even talking to them. Just being near people gave me a sense of their weaknesses and strengths. I guess that was some sorcery.

I already knew Annabeth's person really well. It was weird, but I knew she wouldn't give up. I turned to Chiron and said, "Now what? You said you needed me for something else?"

**And another edit. I'm sorry. I must've looked a complete pillock. This is why nobody reviews your story, Spurs, you have MASSIVE errors! Agian, sorry about the before edition guys. :(**

**FORGIVE ME PLEASE**

**And another edit. Broken up the chapters. Again.**


	3. An attraction?

A/N  
>Hey guys! I'm trying to update as fast as possible before school starts on Wednesday! Grade 10, here I come. = Anyway, here's the Proverb of the Chapter!

It's easy to be brave behing a castle wall (old Welsh proverb) 

I passed a couple of giggling Aphrodite kids. Once these guys found out I was a professional, I became pretty popular.

Not to brag, but I had always had the kind of face that made girls look twice... in a good way! But now I was getting offers from girls left, right and center. I was flattered, don't get me wrong, but this wasn't what I wanted.

So what if I was a professional football player? Maybe I was embellishing the fact that I wasn't pro just yet.

Anyway, I was making for the sword amphitheatre. I thought back to yesterday... Annabeth had just left- she was still gone- and Chiron had taken me aside before he sent me back to my activities... the same activities that I didn't know I had.

He told me that he was told by my mother that she had chosen a new champion. This was, conveniently, a few days after I was born. She had told him that I would arrive, well, when **I **arrived. Well, ok, the date was a bit of an unknown. She had said 'sometime in December'. This probably means nothing to you, and it didn't mean anything to me either, until Chiron took out a black butane lighter, the long sort of lighter you see on camping trips, and said, "what do you make of this, Aaron?"

"Well, it's just a lighter, isn't it? It doesn't look like anything special." Chiron frowned. This obviously wasn't the answer he wanted.

"Aaron, does it look or seem like anything to you?" This lighter was obviously more than just a lighter. I focused on it, and suddenly I felt something, it was like a small explosion behind my eyes.

"There's something in that lighter, isn't there? Something magical?" I asked him. Chiron looked pleased with this. He offered me the lighter. I took it, and realised that there was a Greek omega on the handle. I was about to flick it on when Chiron stopped me. "I wouldn't do that in here child." He chuckled. "Why don't you take it to the Amphitheatre?" I looked at the old centaur.

"Don't tell me, this is a weapon? Percy showed me his sword, but I didn't think there was anything else in the world like it!" Chiron looked at me, his eyes full of mirth.

"My dear boy, you don't even know what it is yet. It's dangerous to make assumptions." But he had kinda given it away. I was about to leave, but something, well, two somethings stopped me. "Chiron, how do I know what my activities are?"

"Well, you're the cabin leader. You pick your activities." He shrugged. "It's not the best system in the world, but I'm busy and the harpies and Argus aren't smart enough to come up with a schedule." I stood up, but then turned round.

"Chiron... How do I say thank you?" He looked at me in surprise. Did no kids here ever thank their parents?

"My boy, I don't know. I suppose praying and giving offerings at your meals. Dedicate things... I'm not entirely sure, I've never been asked that question before." I smiled. I was always the one asking questions no-one else would.

Back to reality. I passed a couple of giggling Aphrodite girls. I winked at them. Hey, there were boneheaded, but cute. What worried me was the fact that all the lovely girls in this camp were actually my cousins.

Did that make dating sick? Sure, the gods didn't have DNA, but it still made me uncomfortable. I put the thought out of mind as I walked into the Arena/Amphitheatre/whatever you want to call it.

In the short time I had been at camp, I learned where they keep the straw dummies. I set a few up and went to work, pressing the lighter. The lighter folded, and sprung out. 5-6 feet of black oak wood, and another foot and a half of black iron blade. A glaive. A _Stygian Iron _glaive Chiron had said. He had also told me not to use this against other half bloods. So I was working on making a glaive out of celestial bronze. But then, I just practiced on straw dummies. The blade was etched with silver Greek letters. _Magic, _I thought.

I was good with the glaive. I had learned quickly, maybe being a demigod was something I was destined to do, even if I'd rather be a football player. I whirled through the dummies, slashing, hacking, smashing, destroying. I was so into it that I didn't notice someone come into the arena. "Not bad, Aaron," A girls voice said. I jumped about 3 feet. I turned to face her, but there was nobody there. "I'm going crazy..." I said, half to myself, but also to see if anyone would contradict me. Suddenly someone materialised. Annabeth stood there, holding a Yankees cap and looking at me with her eyebrows raised. "Annabeth." I said stupidly. "I thought you were looking for Percy." I asked.

"Aaron, I can't look for him forever. I was just checking up on you. You all settled?"

"Percy was my new best friend. If anything, I'm more unsettled then ever. When are you going to start looking for him, and when can I help?" I said. She thought about it for a moment,

"I'll stay the night. I'm about ready to drop and the U.S is huge. As for you... you're not experienced enough. You're better then most new kids, but you don't have any real training." I looked down at the arena floor. I hated being useless.

"Look, Annabeth. I hate being useless. At least tell me you have some good news." I said. She raised her eyebrows.

'You barely knew Percy. Why do you care about finding him?" She asked. Her tone wasn't cold, but the question still caught me like a ball in the chest. Why was I anxious about finding Percy? Why did I feel a need to get out there and look for him. Maybe it was the magic in me. "Annabeth, honestly, I don't know. Maybe it's something to do with Hecate. I've always been able to connect to people really quickly without them knowing it. Just tell me you have good news."

"I do, although I'm still worried about the message I got. You know the Queen of the Gods?" She asked.

"Yeah. Hera, right? But why would she send you a message? I thought she didn't like Heroes." I said. Annabeth smiled wistfully, like she was remembering better times.

"That's what I said when I met her... what is it now? A year and a half ago. I think. Me, Percy and a couple of other friends were looking for Daedalus in the Labyrinth." I started to ask questions but Annabeth interrupted me, "It's a long story, and I don't have the time. Listen, I really pissed Hera off last year, and now she's out to get me. So why she would send me a dream message, I don't know. And I HATE not knowing." She was talking to herself as much as me. I took a couple of minutes to digest this knowledge, and then asked, "So, what DID she tell you?"

"She told me if I went to the Grand Canyon and looked for a guy with one shoe, I'll find Percy." I frowned.

"Well, that's good, right? I mean, whoever this guy is he'll tell you were Percy is. I know it isn't any of my business, but you must really care about Percy to look for him nonstop." I said before I could stop myself. Annabeth turned her stormy grey eyes on me and I could see a couple of emotions wrestling in them. Without warning, she turned and walked out the arena.

Her fists clenching and unclenching. I watched her leave, and then turned my eyes back to the straw dummies. I didn't feel like doing any more practice. I thought for a bit about what to do. Dinner wasn't for... 2 hours, and I didn't feel like going to archery practice. I decided to go for a bit of a walk, in the forest. In England, walking was so easy. You could go everywhere by walking, even over farmland. I had gotten so used to it I didn't think about the dangers that could be lurking in the woods. Luckily for me, what I found in the woods wasn't a monster...

It felt so good to walk. This forest was huge, I could go on forever. Sure, there were monsters in here, but there were also nymphs and satyrs, so I wasn't worried about getting eaten. I decided to follow the creek. Maybe I'd get lucky and there would be a waterfall at the end. Mist was setting in a bit, which would probably get most people nervous, but I didn't think twice about it.

I was too far into my own thoughts, well, daydreams. I came to a small clearing, well, it was long, but fairly narrow, and it followed the creek. I was about to continue, but then I saw something. There was a girl, maybe my age, walking down the other side. The mist seemed to cling to her as she walked. As she got slightly closer, I got a better look at her.

She wasn't the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, but there was something about her that caught my attention. I was torn between going and talking to her or just being creepy and watching her from a safe distance. I took a deep breath, and then exhaled it again. "I'll talk to her next time." I murmured to myself. I looked back, and saw the fog was rolling in quick. That kinda creeped me out. I decided I would go to archery class after all.

"That was a washout." I groaned. Will Solace glanced at me with amusement in his face. I had made a fool of myself trying to shoot a bow. I had missed my first 5 shots, and then accidently hit a daughter of Apollo. I had tried to apologise, but she was too busy crying, and everyone else was too busy laughing. They had thrown me out, and after archery Will and joined me on the grass.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I remember Percy trying to shoot a bow and arrow." I looked over at him, surprised.

"I thought Percy was the number one around here?" I said.

"He was our leader, yeah, but he wasn't that great at much other then horses and canoes. And, I guess, sword fighting. He was as good as Luke." I sat up with interest.

"Who's Luke?" I asked. His face paled slightly, and he shook his head.

"Who was he, you mean. He's dead now." I did feel like I had been punched there. That was defiantly NOT what I had been expecting.

"What do you mean, he's dead? I didn't know you guys die!" It was his turn to look surprised.

"You don't think we die? Haven't you seen the memorial?"

"What memorial?"

"The memorial to those who lost their lives-" I cut him off

"Those who lost their lives fighting in the Great Wars and the Korean and Vietnam war blah blah blah, I've seen those so many times! There's a ton of them in England." Will scowled at me.

"No, the memorial to those who died fighting the second Titan War, last summer. " That sobered me up a little.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offen-"

"Save it. It's dinner time anyway." As he got up, the conch horn blew.

"No, seriously. Will. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it." He turned back to me, his eyes were full of pain. I figured he had lost someone closer to him than just a friend.

"Aaron, it doesn't matter. The point is, we all lost people close to us defending Olympus." He cracked a small smile. We walked to the dining pavilion in silence, until I saw the girl again.

"Hey, Will, what's her name?"

"Her? Daughter of Hades. Don't tell me," He looked at me. "Yeah, you like her." He shrugged. "She's Andrea Casillas."

A/N

Hehe. My other OC. I was intending to add a third, but I guess Will Solace can do the job. **Major edit here. I did change a few things in this chapter. I did NOT like the argument with Annabeth. It wasn't well written, and it just weighed my conscious down. Weird, right? I do apologise about this chapter. I should really read and review my own work before I post it. That's what I get for rapid uploading. D: Thanks for reading the newly edited version. And I didn't know FF was screwing my sentences. I am SO sorry. Forgive me please. It must've been SO difficult to read!**

**And another edit. Fixed a couple of errors I saw while skimming the paragraphs.**

So, tell me what you think. Give me a good proverb for the next chapter. Anything. Flame me, well, it's ok to flame as long as you tell me why it's wrong. Or what I could do to make it better. Or both. So, yeah. Thanks for reading guys.

COYS :)


	4. A dream

A/N

Good to update. How's life guys? Before I start I'd like to give a couple shout-outs.

England 3, Bulgaria 0- good job Rooney! Wales 2, Montenegro 1- Nice one Wales, it's good to see Ramsey back. And here we have the proverb of the chapter-

"A blow with a word strikes deeper than a blow with a sword" (English proverb)

Dinner was an uneventful affair. It sucked that I was forced to sit by myself. All the other tables had at least two people at them. Chiron made some announcements, we had a new camper, blah blah blah, and then we trickled out of the pavilion. Some to the campfire and some to bed. I went to bed, although I wasn't aware of the whopper of a dream I was about to have.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

My eyes shot open. I was lying on a strange... what was it now? Daybed. I was lying of a daybed. I slid off, and realised that I was in the most beautiful room I had ever been in. There were no words to describe it, other than the fact that I knew the type of building. It reminded me of the Espai D'art Gallery in Barcelona. I went to the balcony and looked out.

It WAS Barcelona, albeit with a light dusting of snow. That usually didn't happen. I went back into the room, and out the other door, which led into a corridor. A woman with long dark hair was fixing a bouquet. There was a flower on the ground. It looked like it had only recently been dropped, so I picked it up and went over. "Excuse me, does thi-" The woman turned her eyes on me and I dropped the flower. Hurriedly I picked it up again.

However nice the flowers were- and they were really good- this woman was twice as beautiful. She smiled at me.

"Oh, thank you sweetie." She took the flower from me and arranged it into the bouquet. "Now, dear, why don't you come with me. We need to talk about... things." She looked sad, like she'd been dreading this moment, but she also looked... cheerful? No, she looked proud.

"Look, lady," I found myself saying, "Who are you and what do you want?" She looked a bit disappointed, when I asked her that. She sighed.

"Dearest, who do you think I am? Do I remind you of anyone?" I looked closer. Her eyes were hazel green, like mine, she had the same colour hair as me... "You look like me... coincidence right?" She rolled her eyes.

"Guess, Aaron. Don't tell me you're as stupid as most heroes are." She was scolding me like a mother. Then it hit me.

"Are... are you Hecate?" _Are you my mother? _She smiled.

"Finally. I was wondering if my own son wouldn't recognize his own mother." She frowned. "Now sweetie, come with me. We need to talk about things." She pulled my arm and dragged me along, to an open air room with a sofa in the middle of it. We sat down, and she looked at me fondly. "Now, what do you think?" She threw her arm back, gesturing to the room, to the... house?

"It's really cool." I said. "But I thought the gods were silent?" Hecate sighed. She began running her hands through my hair, totally messing it up.

"Most of the Olympians don't trust me, dear. I... I didn't very well support them in the second Titan War." I backed away from her.

"You didn't support... Why not?"

"Oh dear, it was hard not to! The Olympians were losing support anyway, and my role in the universe was always small. I, perhaps I wanted something more than just this."

"But, mother," I decided to put the whole, My-mother's-a-traitor thing behind me. There were more concerning matters to attend to. "I thought the gods weren't supposed to be talking. At all." She rolled her eyes.

"Most of the Olympians don't trust me, so they let me build my own palace. I chose Barcelona. I'm quite sure, yes you like Barcelona, don't you dear?"

"Don't change the subject. How can you be talking to me if the gods are supposed to be silent? Wouldn't Zeus have... silenced you or something?"

"I'm more or less under house arrest. No, I'm not supposed to be talking to you, but it's been so long since you last saw me. 8 years?" It suddenly dawned on me. She was the one who had been arguing with my father when I was 8. She had been fighting for me to move to England. But dad had stayed firm.

"You were the one who was arguing with dad! But... after the accident I did move..." I looked at my new mother with realisation dawning on my face. She looked pained.

"Dearest, it wasn't easy to do that to him. But you needed to move. The monster attacks would only get more frequent, and you needed to be safe!"

"So why not send me to Camp Half-Blood?" I yelled. "I'm there now! Why didn't you do it before?" She cringed, as if this was actually hurting her.

"Aaron, I couldn't send you there then. At the time I was... preoccupied. And I couldn't bring you over any time quicker because of the Titan War."

"Percy told me that you supported the Titans. Is that true? Is that why I was sent away?" Hecate had a faraway look in her eyes. She was in pain, that much I could tell. Could words- my words- hold that much power?

"No, I... I did support the Titans in the second war. I thought... I could have a bigger slice of the universe. And now look at me." She laughed a hollow laugh. "Under house arrest, and not even on Olympus." She looked straight at me and said, "You need to understand something. Everything I have done to you and for you has been for a reason." I was lost. "Aaron, I sent you away because I knew at Camp Half Blood you wouldn't survive. You would join the Titans, and you would die in the Titan War. What I know from the fates is that you will die fighting an enemy of the gods. I sent you away to preserve you. You are my champion, my son. Your father wouldn't have you going to overseas."

I looked at her with anger, but it quickly faded as I could see she suffered just as much as I did. And I realised another thing. Dad wasn't all that great. He didn't agree with, or even like, my love of soccer. He wanted me to be a skier. All the best things in my short life had happened in England. I looked at Hecate. She had tears in her eyes.

"Mom, I forgive you. All the best things in my life have happened because dad died." I wrapped my arms around my mother, forgetting that she was a goddess, she was my birth mother, not my foster one.

Already she meant the world to me. I wanted to make her proud. She had called me her champion. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew it made me an important demigod. We embraced for a few minutes, and then I withdrew. "Mom, thank you. Thank you for giving me this." I pulled out the lighter. She smiled.

"You are such a sweetheart. God's don't usually get an in-person thank you for a magical item. Now, dear, I've got to go. But, I do need to give you a message. That old Hera is playing a deadly game. She's bringing the two sides together. The old gaffer's hoping he'll be able to lull the earth back to sleep, and things are going to have to get a LOT worse before he changes his mind.

Listen to me, dear. Sorcery, magic and crossroad... they're all fine. But you must remember that you need to find your own strengths. All that I patron is just... trivia." She winked at me. "You'll figure it out. Good bye dear, we won't be able to talk for some time.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

My eyes flew open. I was back in my cabin. "It must've been a dream... but so vivid? More like a message." I murmured. "But, if she can contact me... maybe other gods can too." I shook my head. Things were getting weird. Little did I know that was the first of many dreams, and let me tell you, without a doubt the most pleasant.

I rolled off my sofa and stared at the fire. It was almost hypnotic. I thought back to my dream. _Find my own powers_. How was I supposed to do that? And what was with that trivia nonsense? Maybe it was just to emphasize finding my own strengths and powers? Why did gods have to be so mysterious? A conch horn blew. "Breakfast time," I murmured.

Breakfast was low key. Nothing much was going on. Although, hopefully Percy would be back today. That would be cool. I still wasn't sure what to make of my dream. I wanted to tell someone about it, but it was pretty damn embarrassing. I didn't know gods could act so... motherly. I didn't eat much that breakfast. Maybe that was a mistake, because I was barely aware that I had the two most gruelling activities coming up before lunch.

I looked up at the climbing wall. I made a sound that might've been a whimper. "Do I have to do this guys?" I asked, my eyes not leaving the lava spill. Will chuckled.

"We've all gotta do it. It kinda sucks, but that's camp for you." He shrugged. It was easy for him, he didn't have vertigo.

"Dude, Will, I can't do this. I actually can't. I'm..." I motioned for him to come closer. "I'm scared of heights, and I don't mean scared of being burned to death. I have vertigo." Will had a bemused expression on his face, like he couldn't tell if I was being serious or not. "Will, I can't do this. I'll panic and you'll have to clean up my charred remains." He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hey man, don't embarrass yourself. Little kids do this. You've seen little Harley? He did it pretty quick." He shrugged and then said, "Get your harness on." I shook my head. There was absolutely no way I was doing this.

Most of the other campers had gotten to the top of the wall fine. It was just me and a girl I barely knew called Kayla. She looked at me and laughed. "Nervous?"

I managed a weak chuckle. "Me? Never..." I swallowed. Words washed through my mind. _Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down!_

I heaved myself up the last three feet. I lay on the top of the climbing wall, gasping like a fish while Kayla just laughed at me. My shoes had partially melted, and some of my hair was burnt off. "Oh my gods, that was the funniest thing!" Kayla could barely contain herself. I glared at her.

"Like it's my fault I'm scared of heights! Stop laughing and help me up." She held out her hand and she pulled me up. My legs were shaking. "Gods that was scary. I'm not doing that again." She giggled.

"C'mon Aaron. The good news is, you don't have to climb DOWN the wall." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever. What are we doing next?" She raised her eyebrow.

"We? No, Apollo and Iris have archery. You, Hades and Hephaestus have sword fighting class. See you round."

I stared up at the arena. Sword fighting class? Sure, sounds great. I walked into the arena. A bunch of big burly dudes looked over at me. Off to the side, a guy and the girl, Andrea Gomes, stood, talking quietly. A big girl in a tank top came over to me. She looked like one of those women in action movies, with her tank top and camo pants. "You Aaron?" She asked.

"Yeah. Who wants to know?" A flicker of a smile played across her face.

"Watch the attitude sparkly boy." I felt the corner of my mouth pulling into a smile.

"Sparkly boy?" I asked. "What's up with that Mrs. Schwarzenegger?" This time she did smile.

"Shake a paw Aaron. Names Nyssa, acting leader of the Hephaestus cabin. I hear your new. I'll set you up with Andrea. She was the newest. Before you came, that is."

Well... this was my chance to get to know Andrea. She was gorgeous. I needed to get to know here. I picked out a sword that fit right in my hand, and squared up to her. I grinned at her. Nothing. I winked at her. Nothing. "Nice to meet you?" I said. A flicker of annoyance passed through her almost-black brown eyes. She shook her head. Clearly she was playing hard to get.

A/N

Sorry about that chapter guys. I don't care for it much myself. The bit with Hecate was maybe a bit overkill. I wanted Hecate to be motherly though. Tell me what you think. Please. I really would like some nice reviews. Once again, thanks for reading guys.  
>So the part about our Hero finding his own strengths... Tell me what you think his power should be. I've already decided on something although I'm not entirely sure if it's what I want. Give me your thoughts.<p>

**And fixed. There you go. It might be easier to read now. Hopefully.**

COYS!


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